


"Daddy, will you marry Papa?"

by DuchessKitty16



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas Time, Fluff, Kid Fic, Louis doesn't feel comfortable taking Harry's money, M/M, Marriage Proposal, No Smut, Teacher Harry, Violist Louis, Wealth disparity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21915586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DuchessKitty16/pseuds/DuchessKitty16
Summary: Harry and Louis have two children, a girl Olivia 8, and a boy Toby age 5. Somehow they’ve just never gotten around to getting married. They’re content as they are, certain of their love and commitment. But Olivia comes home with a school family tree project and worries that her tree won’t be as good as the other kids in her class because her dads aren’t married and Louis begins to worry that maybe Harry has wanted to make it “official” for a while and Louis has just ignored him. So Louis decides that he wants to propose on Christmas Eve and enlists the help of his children to make sure it’s a proposal Harry will never forget.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 15
Kudos: 153
Collections: 28 Proposals Fic Fest





	"Daddy, will you marry Papa?"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again to everyone involved in this fic festival! It was incredibly fun to write again for my favorite fic universe and even though I was incredibly late turning my fics in, the moderators were kind and so patient with me. This thing was barely beta'd or looked over so I'm quite sure there are a thousand grammar errors. I apologize profusely in advance.
> 
> I really hope that people enjoy this bit of Christmas-time fluff.

“Papa?” Toby tugged on the hand that he was holding as his father pushed open the large glass door leading out of the side entrance to the Seattle Symphony administration building.

“Yeah bee?” Louis looked down at his son as they came to the stoplight a couple of yards away and he pushed the crosswalk button.

“Is that big tall man in the oak esstra your boss?”

Louis chuckled to himself thinking about his son’s mispronunciation and Noah Keyser, the Concertmaster in his orchestra who did indeed resemble a large oak tree. Before Louis had a chance to respond, his daughter Olivia chimed in.

“No, Miss Meredith is Papa’s boss.”

The light changed and Louis gripped the hands of his children tighter as the three of them sprinted across the street and headed down the escalator into the tunnel to catch their train. Olivia was right in a way, but just that day Louis had found out that his principal, Meredith Odum was retiring in the spring and that she was recommending that Louis be promoted to first chair in her place. Louis didn’t want to get his hopes up because ultimately it was the artistic director’s decision, not Meredith’s, but he was excited to think about the opportunity, both because of the increased salary and the increase in control that he’d have. Louis thought about what both Olivia and Toby had said and corrected both kids on the escalator ride down.

“Toby, you and your sister are both sort of right. Miss Meredith is the principal or first chair in my section…”

“VEEEOHLAH”, Olivia crowed as she skipped a little ahead of Louis and Toby while they made their way down the platform to their “spot” to wait for the train.

“Miss Meredith decides how the violas are going to play certain pieces. And I’m the second chair so I help her make sure that everyone in our section is doing the right thing.”

“But what about the big tall man, papa?” The three got on the arriving train and settled into their favorite seats which faced the middle, so Olivia wouldn’t get motion sick, but still had a window that Toby could look out of when the train went out onto the street.

“The big tall man is named Noah, and he is called the Concertmaster. You know when your dad or grandma take you to the symphony to see me play and Noah stands up at the beginning and plays a note and then the rest of us follow?”

Toby nodded, “it sounds like the _bahrooooooooom_ that grampa’s boat makes when he pushes the horn.”

Louis and Olivia both laughed at that. “The other thing that Noah does is set the pace or the speed of whatever music we’re playing. He works with the conductor on that bit.”

“He’s the guy with the stick at the front.” Olivia leaned forward to tell Toby who nodded.

“But Papa, why is Noah the master when your veelola is bigger den’ his?” Toby’s chubby 5 year old hand patted his father’s arm as he snuggled in closer to him.

“Noah plays a violin, not a viOHla like me. Violins are smaller and play higher notes and a long long time ago some people decided that the violin was the most important instrument, so that’s just how it is. I’m okay with it, so you don’t have to worry, buddy.” Louis leaned down and kissed the top of his son’s head, breathing in the scent of Toby’s Fozzie Bear apple shampoo and the smell that was uniquely his own. Louis may not be concertmaster or the principal of his section, but he was happy being a father to his two beautiful children.

************************************************************************

As soon as their house was in sight Olivia and Toby took off down the street for it, their full backpacks hitting against the tops of their legs as they ran. Louis heard the screen door slam shut and sighed wondering whether his kids would ever learn to go through their front door without slamming any part of it.

Louis paused at the bottom of the steps leading up to the front porch and breathed in deeply, taking it all in. The home that he lived in was beautiful; many pieces of it had seen better days, but most of the wear and tear was made through love and the Victorian structure wore it’s wornoutedness well. Louis did a slow 360 degree turn, looking around at his neighbors’ well staid and luxurious homes as well as the peekaboo view of Lake Washington just east of them, which could be seen better from the vantage of his and Harry’s bedroom on the second floor. Louis knew he was lucky. Lucky to live in a house worth millions; even in its roughhewn state. Lucky that he had a job doing something he loved. Lucky to have a beautiful family all his own, when 15 years before he never even dreamed it was possible. But often when he looked around at his life and ~~his house,~~ **the** house (his name was on the deed, same as Harry’s, but he could never think of the house as partly his) he felt a little like a fraud. Like he didn’t deserve this happiness.

Olivia broke into his brooding as she ran out onto the porch calling for him.

“Papa! Daddy says that if you don’t come in soon, we’re going to finish the puzzle without you.”

“Finish the puzzle without me? Now I can’t allow that you monkeys.” Louis pantomimed grabby tickle hands and raced his daughter up the front steps and into their home. He needed the reminder of how good his life was.

Later that night as Louis and Harry were getting ready for bed, Harry told Louis the good news that his girls’ choir had been selected to perform and premiere a new Christmas cantata at Carnegie Hall in New York City two days before Christmas. Both the competition’s organizers and the private school that Harry was the music teacher for would be paying for the hotel accommodations for Harry and the ten teenage girls, but the students and Harry would have to pay for their plane tickets there and back and all their meals while there. Louis understood now why Harry had waited until bedtime to tell him about this; he knew that Louis would be less likely to worry about how much money this was going to cost. Despite the fact that they lived in a large paid off house in a wealthy neighborhood and Harry had a trust fund filled with savings that he and Louis didn’t discuss, they had made a point to live modestly and only within the small means that a salary of a high school teacher and symphony orchestra member garnered. Last minute plane tickets to New York City, not to mention the high cost of food and drink in that city were not items that they’d budgeted for this close to Christmas.

“Before you say anything and yes, I can see that anxious look and worry furrowing your brow Louis, I already asked my mom to use her air miles to get me my tickets, so I’ll only have to pay for my meals. And you know me, I’ll do a run to Whole Foods first thing and buy a bunch of salad fixings to store in my hotel room fridge. I already looked up to see if the hotel rooms had fridges and microwaves, so I’ll be set.” Harry kissed Louis on the tip of his nose as he pulled back the duvet and got into bed.

“It’s just that it’s such a busy time of the year. It’s Christmas, I’ve got the Haydn, Rachmaninoff, and The Messiah performances coming up, plus Meredith announced today that she’s retiring in May and that she wants me to be principal when she leaves, but it’s not up to her it’s up to Gerard and he has his favorites and those people aren’t me, so this means that I will have to bend over backwards being extra precise and willing to do whatever he wants so that I can have a chance at all of getting this promotion. And on top of all of that, I’m pretty sure this is going to be the last Christmas where Toby believes in Santa. Olivia has kept her promise not to say anything to him but the other day when they were writing their lists for “Santa” Toby kept on looking over at O’s and wondering why her list was so short. I think he kind of worked it out in his head that Olivia had already asked us for the things that she wanted for Christmas, so she didn’t need to ask Santa. I could see the little gears working in Toby’s brain and I swear I was close to tears knowing that our baby is growing up.”

“Oh baby, I’m only gone four days and I’ll be back by the afternoon of Christmas Eve. We’ll just make sure to get all the decorating and shopping done at least a couple of weeks before I leave, we’ll rearrange schedules a bit and ask our moms to help with Toby and Olivia so that we can each focus on our work and preparation. You’re going to impress the tuxedo pants off of Gerard Stuntz and I’m going to make sure that my girls become the toast of NYC with their lovely voices. Now turn off that light, scoot down and spoon me, please.” Harry turned on his side and fluffed his pillow a bit before settling.

“Demanding, aren’t you?” Louis teased but closed his laptop and turned off the light as he had been directed.

“I said Please!” Harry sniffed.

“That you did my love, that you did.” Louis wrapped his left arm around Harry, resting it on Harry’s chest and bringing him in close. He’d been sleeping like this now for over a decade and he didn’t want to stop any time soon.

************************************************************

The alarm on Louis’ phone went off at his usual weekday wake up time of 7:00am but Louis had already been up for over an hour. He often woke with Harry’s 5:30 alarm, but usually never had a problem falling back asleep for that extra 90 minutes. This morning however found Louis sleepless and plagued from old familiar worries and one new one taking the shape of his daughter Olivia’s recent anxiety over him and Harry not being married.

She’d sulked into the house the previous afternoon holding a large piece of poster paper and had gone straight to her room looking as if she was about to cry. Harry came through the front door a moment later holding their son Toby’s hand and feigning interest as their youngest child enthusiastically told him a story about something someone named Chris had done in kindergarten that day. Louis met Harry’s eyes and mouthed “is O okay?” but Harry only shook his head and shrugged. Louis indicated with a nod that he was going to go up and check on her and Harry mouthed a thank you back then blew him a kiss.

When Louis knocked on Olivia’s door he waited until he heard a grumpy “come in” before he stepped inside.

“Hey sweetie, you seem upset about something. What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Olivia dejectedly rested her chin in her hands.

“It must be something. Did anything happen at school today that you want to talk about?” Louis sat on the edge of her bed and the piece of hair off her forehead that had come out of the French braid that he had done that morning.

Olivia unfolded her legs and stood up, walking over to her desk to pick up the piece of poster board that she’d come in the house with. When she turned around and showed it to Louis, he could see a large tree had been stenciled onto the paper with horizontal lines coming from each of the branches. The top had “Family Tree” painted in large green letters.

“ooh a family tree project. This should be fun to do. Your dad loves stuff like this; I’m sure he’d be happy to help you with it.”

“Yeah, I guess. But Papa, your side and daddy’s side of the tree aren’t going to be linked because you’re not married, and the tree sides already aren’t really linked to me because I’m adopted. And so my family tree isn’t as real as everybody else’s and people are going to make fun of me when I have to show it in class next week.” Olivia then burst into tears, throwing the poster down to the floor and crawling onto the bed and into Louis’s lap, pressing her face into his stomach. He could feel her tears soaking into the cotton of his shirt. Louis rubbed his daughter’s back and made shushing noises to try and stop her crying.

“Baby, what’s with these tears? You know that just because you’re adopted doesn’t make you any less our daughter. In fact it makes you even _more_ ours because we _chose_ you. So you have a very special connection to your dad’s and my sides of your family tree. Mai Ling in your class is also adopted, did it seem like she was feeling the same way today at school?” Louis lifted Olivia up so that she was sitting up in his lap and he could see her tear-stained face and kiss the top of her head as he rocked her gently.

“But Mai Ling has a mommy and a daddy.”

“Oh, so this is about the fact that you have two dads instead of a mom and a dad?” Louis asked, concerned that one of his biggest parenting fears was coming to life. “What about Noah Anderson or Sarah Young? They also have two dads?”, Louis hoped that this wasn’t going to be something that he and Harry had to discuss with Olivia’s school or teacher.

“But Sarah and Noah’s dads are married.” Louis’s daughter looked up at him with a pout and he let out a sigh. Ah, so that was it. Louis hadn’t ever considered that his own children would be the reason he’d question a decision that he had made years before.

\--------------------------------------------

There were a dozen reasons why he and Harry had never married. They were too young; then they were together too long for it to be necessary; they needed to save money for grad school; they needed to save money for a house; they needed to save money for children; they needed to save money for their kids’ education; they needed to save money for repairs on the house; there was never enough time to plan it; they loved each other enough that they didn’t need a piece of paper making it “real”. Louis and Harry were lucky enough to live in Washington state which long before gay marriage was legal across the country had passed laws granting the same legal protections in regards to health care access and child custody.

Louis had gotten away with never having to think about marriage even though if he was being honest, he knew that it was something that Harry wanted, and Louis knew the real reason that he was reluctant. Harry came from wealth, stability and acceptance and Louis did not.

Harry grew up the youngest child and only son of a successful computer engineer father named Des and a novelist mother, Anne. Harry and his sister Gemma had been raised in the liberal but wealthy Seattle neighborhood of Madrona, in a large 5-bedroom Victorian house overlooking Lake Washington. Harry and Gemma had never lacked for anything. Summer and winter breaks were spent on vacation and not work; never needing to work at a crap job to save money for anything. They always had birthday parties with themes and fancy cakes. And were sure to receive every item from their birthday and Christmas wish lists. Theirs was a world of generous weekly allowances, the newest cell phones, cars wrapped in bows given as presents, and the opportunities that having money afforded. When Harry had proudly announced to his parents that he was gay after performing as Oliver in a community theater production, they had beamed with pride at their courageous son and had supported him every step of the way in whatever way Harry wanted to express himself.

Louis’s childhood in comparison was extremely disparate. He grew up on a strawberry farm in the north western rural part of Washington state, the oldest and only son out of five kids. His mother Jay was divorced twice over and forced to move back in with her parents and help work the farm with her brothers, while going to school to try and get her LPN degree.

For Louis and his siblings, money was always tight. Once he and his sisters were 15 they were expected to get jobs or help pick strawberries on the farm. Picking strawberries was backbreaking work, so Louis had always opted for jobs in the neighboring towns of Arlington and Mt.Vernon. He’d worked everywhere from Toys R Us stock boy to pizza delivery driver to a scooper at an ice cream shop. His car was always whichever barely running wreck his mother or uncles could pass down, and he had to pay for his own insurance and gas. Louis was lucky to get one gift at Christmas and it had to count for his birthday present too because he’d been born on Christmas Eve. And he didn’t get a cell phone until he was almost in college; even then only being able to afford those monthly burner phones where you bought minutes. His sisters and he wore clothes purchased at Goodwill or handmade on the ancient Singer sewing machine by his mother and grandmother. The only good opportunities that he’d ever been given were his free music lessons and the scholarship that he had earned to Cornish College of the Arts. And even those he had gained through a tremendous amount of hard work and sacrifice.

Louis had always been a tough little boy who loved soccer and baseball and swimming in the lake near the farm. He didn’t excel in school or really care about any particular subject. All that changed the day that the Skagit county free music program showed up at his school when Louis was in the 5th grade. Each year, 9 to 11-year olds in the public elementary schools throughout the state were given the opportunity to be lent a musical instrument of their choice and have access to free lessons in that instrument one hour a week during school hours. On the day the program came to Louis’s school, he was late getting to the assembly because he’d had to clean all of Mrs. Brown’s white boards with bleach as a punishment for talking too much in class. By the time Louis got to the room, most of the instruments had all been chosen. He was left with four choices – a flute, a trumpet, a cello, and what looked like a large violin. Louis rejected the flute immediately; Bobby Henderson was always making “skin flute” jokes in gym class and Louis knew that he’d never hear the end of the teasing if he chose that one. The trumpet seemed sort of cool, but he’d only seen old photos of Louis Armstrong playing one with his cheeks all ballooned out like a puffer fish. Louis thought that the trumpet seemed impossible and painful to play, so that was out too. As he approached the two stringed instruments, he gently ran his hand along the top of the cello, liking the way the smooth varnished wood felt under his hand. The cello was bigger than it appeared at first glance and Louis had a hard time picturing himself sitting behind it with the cello resting between his legs. Would his feet even touch the ground if he tried to play it, he wondered. Louis was one of the shortest boys in his class and he was always conscious of things and situations that would emphasize his height in bad ways. So as pretty as Louis thought the cello to be, he picked up the violin one and turned happy with his choice to the teacher and the man from the county who were waiting to write down his information. Louis then noticed that Andrew Wong was standing in the small group of kids that had chosen violins, and Louis knew that he had made the right choice. Andrew was his best friend and had lovely hands that Louis often like to stare at. Knowing that once a week he’d get to be in a small music class learning the violin right next to Andrew made Louis smile and his insides feel light and bubbly. As he happily walked over to stand next to Andrew, Louis really noticed the difference in the size of the instruments that they were holding and pressing under their chins in imitation to all the people that they’d ever seen play. At the end of the assembly when the teacher was announcing instruments that the children had chosen and who their instructors would be was the first time that Louis had ever heard the word “viola” or learned anything about the instrument that he was holding and which would change his life forever.

The instructor for the children learning violin and the one learning viola was a woman named Beatrice Linley. Beatrice had been a violist in the San Francisco Philharmonic for over two decades before marrying and settling in the Anacortes, WA area with her fisherman husband. She’d happily given up her orchestral career for a husband and kids and for a life as a violin teacher to the kids and teens of the Pacific Northwest. When she walked into Louis’s classroom that day and saw him holding a viola so lovingly, Beatrice knew that she had discovered a child of her heart. As the weeks progressed and Louis showed immediate talent and signs of tremendous skill to come with the viola, Beatrice also knew that she would do everything in her power to make Louis the most proficient and talented violist in the state. This meant that Beatrice had made phone calls to friends to be able to get Louis a viola on loan that was much better than the one the school had provided. It also meant that she’d called Jay and asked if she could give Louis additional private lessons, at no cost of course, to ensure that Louis excelled in every way possible. Jay was surprised at first by the request, but once she sat down with Louis and learned how much he really loved playing, and that he was willing to give up a lot in order to keep playing, Jay happily and gratefully accepted Beatrice’s offer of help.

Louis’s life became one of structured schedule and very hard work. For the first several years learning the viola, he also played soccer both at school and in the city league. But as the viola and needing a job took priority, Louis had to make the decision to drop soccer. It was a decision that his mother didn’t understand, but Louis wasn’t about to tell her that the other reason he was quitting besides wanting to focus on classical music was that he was starting to change; not only his body going through puberty but also embarrassing things like having wetdreams about Tyler Jenkins on the soccer team and being worried that he’d pop an unfortunate boner during practice or in the locker room. Louis was already starting to get teased for playing the viola; he was tough enough to handle that but knew he wouldn’t be able to handle gay bashing on top of it. Louis just put his head down and plowed through his junior high and high school life, practicing his craft as a violist and working whatever minimum wage job would take him, so that he took break out of the small town that felt smothering.

When Louis met Harry in the crowded hallway of one of the academic buildings at Cornish, after Harry had collided into him while trying to pirouette or something as he told a story to some friends, Louis thought that he’d never seen a creature as beautiful as the one crouched down helping him pick up the sheet music that had scattered everywhere after they’d crashed together. Harry had long, dark chestnut curls that flowed past his strong broad shoulders. Green eyes, the color somewhere between celadon and moss, and a smile so captivating, especially if you made him smile big enough that the dimples popped in each of his cheeks, that Louis promised himself in that moment that he wanted to figure out ways to always keep him smiling.

Harry was a revelation; a charm bomb set off in Louis’s well-ordered life. Although Louis had come to accept his homosexuality once he was away from his small farm town and living on his own in the big progressive city attending an art school, he was still shy and somewhat of a closed book around people he didn’t know. He had only told his mother and his oldest sister Lottie that he was gay and had only been on a handful of dates with boys from his college. Harry on the other hand exuded an aura of openness, sweetness, and the kind of confidence that only those who have been comfortable in their own skins for a very long time had. By the end of their first coffee date Louis knew not only that Harry was queer, but also more about Harry’s family, dating life, and his interests than he knew about anyone else. Harry was captivating, but also knew that he was which he sometimes used to his advantage to manipulate situations to get what he wanted. Louis recognized this almost immediately, and called Harry on it, which Harry found exhilarating and sexy as hell. Harry and Louis complemented each other perfectly; where Louis was cautious sometimes to his disadvantage, Harry was spontaneous and a risk-taker. Harry seemed to always know what he wanted to do and held onto those convictions fiercely while Louis had to analyze for a while before making decisions, often changing his mind. One of the only things that Louis was 100% sure of was his love for Harry and his love of the viola. But still it was Harry who declared that he and Louis would be together forever; it was he who insisted they weren’t too young at 23 and 25 to adopt a baby, and that three years later they’d be able to handle dealing with a surrogate and adding another child to their family. And of course Harry had been right. He and Louis had a wonderful, loving family and were doing okay. Louis just wished that he felt like he’d earned his happiness.

Louis felt beholden to Harry, or really Harry’s family. When Harry’s well-off parents decided that they wanted to downsize and buy a fancy condo right on the lake just a half mile away from the house that Harry had grown up in, they offered their large Madrona house to Harry and therefore Louis, for free. Louis didn’t feel right just accepting a house and property worth two million dollars for nothing, not to mention how he knew his mother would react, so he insisted in giving the money he had in savings and even considered selling his viola as a way of paying Anne and Des back. Harry and his parents refused his offer, and after much discussion and one terrible fight with Harry, Anne finally agreed to allow Louis to pay for the closing costs and taxes associated with the house title and escrow exchange process, which only amounted to a few thousand dollars and meant that Louis wouldn’t have to consider selling the most valuable thing he owned.

When Beatrice Linley learned she had stage 4 breast cancer with little hope of recovery Louis was a junior in college. She called him up and asked him to make the almost 3-hour drive north to see her. She revealed her diagnosis over plates of Louis’s favorite lemon cake that she used to make for him all the time as a treat after his lessons. Louis had cried for over an hour and felt anger that someone so good could be taken from the world. He worried aloud about what Beatrice’s family, what he, was going to do without her. In response Beatrice stood and walked over to her music room where a grand piano sat along with two music stands, two violins and one viola in a beautiful dark red case. She picked this up and returned to the living room and handed it to Louis.

“This is for you. I want you to play it in a world-famous symphony or philharmonic some day.”

“The Gagliano?! I couldn’t, Bea.” Louis held it out gently in front of him.

“You must. No one else in my life will appreciate it like you. Dan or the kids would only sell it, or worse keep it displayed on a wall or in a case honoring me or some such nonsense.” Beatrice made a gagging motion with her finger pointing down her throat. “You will play it and play it beautifully. A stringed instrument made by the great Gennaro Gagliano deserves to be played to be worshipped by someone with your talent. So it will give me peace in these last months of my life knowing that this almost 250-year-old Gennaro is in precious hands with you.”

Louis couldn’t say anything; he could only jump to his feet and hug his devoted mentor with all the love in his heart.

The Gagliano was the only thing of worth and the only real asset that was his and his alone that Louis had to leave for his children. He thought about Beatrice saying all those years ago that she didn’t want her family to sell it; Louis in contrast actually hoped that his children or their children sold the viola and used the money for something they wanted. He liked the idea of being able to leave this legacy himself. Harry and his parents had already set up small trust funds for Olivia and Toby supposedly for college, but Louis had accidentally seen the balances of the funds one day when he was looking through some paperwork for their taxes and had blanched at the large sums. His kids would have enough money to pay for the college of their choice and then some. That’s why the upcoming spring season was going to be so important for Louis. He wanted to contribute more financially to his children’s future.

********************************************************************

Harry knew that if he heard the somber tones of Brahms’ sonata in F minor coming from the office that Louis had turned into his music room, it meant that Louis was in a foul mood and you needed to tip toe around him for a few hours. But knowing that he was leaving on a red-eye flight later tonight and he and Louis still had a lot to plan and nail down before he left, meant that Harry was just going to have to deal with whatever mood Louis was in. He knocked on the door before opening it and Louis immediately stopped and gave Harry a murderous look.

“What is it, Harry?” Louis gritted out.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re practicing or whatever but we still need to figure out who’ll be taking Olivia to and from Heather Stack’s birthday party tomorrow and my mom still needs an answer about Christmas. Are we going to Vashon on Christmas Eve night or not?”

“I don’t know, Harry. You’ll have just gotten back that afternoon and the kids will want all of your attention. I was hoping that for once we could forego the family thing at either of our mom’s and have it just be the four of us. And wait, why do we have to figure anything out about Heather’s birthday party? She lives two blocks away?”

“But the party is at her dad’s house down in Tacoma. I told you this a million times, Lou.” Harry sighed exasperatedly.

“well sorry! I didn’t remember! Tacoma? How fucking tedious. Why can’t your mom take O?”

“Because, as I’ve also mentioned several times already, mom is going over to Vashon early on Saturday and won’t be back until after Christmas.” Harry inhaled a deep breath trying to keep his temper.

“And your mom can’t delay going across on the ferry for a few hours? What’s the fucking difference if she gets there in the morning or in the late afternoon after the party?”

“My mother isn’t our damn nanny that we can order around to do our bidding. She’s already been way gracious with her time this past week, filling in for us on practically everything because we’ve both been swamped with work.” Louis could see Harry clenching his fists and heard the fire under his words and knew that he had to say something before this turned into a fight that no one would win.

“Look, I’m sorry okay. I’ve been stressed out because of the drama and office politics going on at the symphony, I’m dreading you leaving because I always do a crap job as a single parent and consistently prove that you’re better at this than me, and our daughter has got it into her head that she’s the 3rd grade pariah somehow because her dads aren’t really married.” As soon as Louis revealed this last part he cringed because he hadn’t meant to tell Harry about Olivia’s concerns or at least not in that way.

“What do you mean she’s upset that we’re not married? What happened?”

“They’re doing some genealogy project in her class and O is worried that because our tree branches aren’t connected or whatever that the other kids will make fun of her. I told her it was ridiculous.” Louis rolled his eyes for emphasis.

“Is it? Is it ridiculous?”

“The fact that we’re not married but have been together for 13 years and are recognized by the state as being legal partners? Yes, I think that’s ridiculous.”

“Well our daughter is clearly upset by it and maybe your “legal partner” cares about it too.” Harry crossed his arms and widened his stance. Louis knew what that meant.

“Harry does it really bother you that we’re not married? We’ve always agreed that it was too much money that would be better spent on other things like oh, feeding and clothing our children? Dental bills? House repairs?” Louis said all of this as he carefully put his viola away; he wouldn’t be getting any more playing in that night.

“Oh come off it, Louis. You know very well that my parents have offered hundreds of times to pay for our wedding. They paid for Gem’s and they’d pay for mine. Or hell, maybe I’d just pay for my own damn wedding! You know, with my own money that I have just sitting and accruing interest because my quote unquote legal partner is too emasculated by the fact that my parents are wealthy and have been generous to their children! We could’ve been married years ago if you wanted to and could set the money thing aside. But maybe you don’t want to marry me for other reasons.” Harry’s eyes filled with tears and he rushed out of the room and down the stairs.

“Harry wait, where are you going?” Louis ran after him.

“I’m going over to my parent’s condo to tell my mom she has to drive Olivia and won’t be able to go to the island until tomorrow night. And then I’m calling an Uber and going to the airport myself, I guess.” Harry slammed the screen door on his way out.

Louis felt terrible about how the last few hours had gone and apologized when Harry returned around 20 minutes later. It was clear that he had been crying, but he gave Louis a small smile as he walked in so Louis thought he might have a chance at forgiveness.

“Harry, I’m so sorry about before. I’ve been the biggest a-hole these past few weeks and I really don’t have an excuse. Let me heat up some of that soup I made yesterday so that you can have something in your stomach for the plane ride and you won’t have to have any of those salty snacks on the plane that make you bloat up and feel gross. And then the kids and I will take you to the airport and give you lots of kisses and tell you how much we’re going to miss you. Sound good?” Louis opened his arms wide and Harry fell into them gratefully, returning the hug.

“I’m sorry too, Louis. I’m happy with just the way that things are. You and our children are all I need.”

Louis placed a soft kiss on Harry’s lips and wondered for the millionth time how he got so lucky.

************************************************************

Louis was exhausted and cranky. It was four days before Christmas and he’d forgotten how tiring it was to be a single parent, even if it was just for a few days. Louis didn’t know how his mother had done it with 5 kids for all those years, when he only had two and Harry had only been gone 24 hours. The day had started off bad with cold rain pouring down and grumpy uncooperative children who took forever to get dressed and out of the house for their last day of school before the holiday break. Louis was grumpy and uncooperative himself so he couldn’t find it in him to be cross with Olivia and Toby, but he did find himself sighing a lot during the short, wet walk to school.

Louis had then headed into the symphony for the final rehearsal before the next night’s performance of Handel’s Messiah. The violists have fairly straightforward and simple parts to play and Louis in theory could play the pieces with his eyes closed, but today had seen him not only lose control of his bow and have it fall to the ground, but also get snippy with Meredith when she questioned his rhythm in one set of measures. Louis almost never fought or disagreed with his principal and in this case, she’d been right, so he really didn’t have an excuse. He was grateful that Meredith was such a level-headed and good friend and had brushed his tantrum off as him having a bad day, which Louis decidedly was.

Now to top it off, he had arrived home to find Anne in the living room with his children decorating a Christmas tree, a Christmas tree that had not been up this morning when he left for work. Harry had made him promise before he left that Louis would buy a tree and put it up before Harry arrived home on Christmas Eve. This year with everything that had been going on, they’d delayed buying a tree much longer than they had in the past to the point that Toby had asked just the day before in a voice filled with worry whether Santa would still come if they didn’t have a Christmas tree for him to leave presents under. Louis had assured him that Santa was flexible. Now seeing that his almost mother-in-law had gone out and purchased a gorgeous and very expensive looking Noble Fir that almost reached their 12 foot ceiling, all that Louis could do was sigh and give in that he had to accept Anne’s generosity this time. He hadn’t seen his children this happy in months.

“Hi guys. That tree looks wonderful.”

“Papa look! Grammy bought me this turtle and otter ormanents for the tree.” Toby came running over to show Louis the adorable and again expensive looking glass ornaments.

“Oh Louis will you be a dear and go up into the attic and grab the box that has the Courier & Ives ornaments? It’s a green and blue box. Do you know the one? Those ornaments haven’t been used forever but I really think they’d be perfect on this tree.” Anne turned back to continue stringing the lights that she was holding, and Louis kissed Toby’s cheek and sent him back over to his sister as Louis got to his feet and wearily headed up to the attic.

The attic was colder and mustier than the last time he’d been up there. He and Harry had briefly considered throwing $10,000 or so into converting the attic into a large master suite, but ultimately Louis had felt that it would be too much work. Now as he climbed the attic stairs and looked around, he wondered if this was just another thing that he had rejected because he knew that it would be Harry or his parents paying for it. Why couldn’t Louis just accept nice things and say thank you?

He didn’t immediately see the green and blue box that Anne described and turned the flashlight on his phone to get a better look. Suddenly Louis saw a box with blue and green stripes tucked away in a far corner and went to drag it out. When Louis got the box to the center of the attic room where there was more light, he could see that the box had an inch thick layer of dust on it.

“Ugh, when was the last time this box was touched?” He gingerly removed the dusty top and looked inside. Instead of ornaments Louis saw what looked like a scrapbook or photo album that had “Harry’s Ideas” spelled out in puffy sticker letters on the front. Louis grinned at this and eagerly opened the book. Inside were pages and pages of what were essentially Pinterest boards before the digital age. Harry had made idea or mood boards for everything from his design of his perfect kitchen, which Louis noted was almost exactly like the kitchen two floors below him, to dream vacations that Harry wanted to take. Louis ran his index finger lovingly across one page that was dedicated to Portugal and all the things that Harry wanted to see there. Louis smiled; he’d never known that Harry wanted to go to Portugal. Louis had always wanted to go there as well. Louis turned the page and let out a gasp. The heading read “My Dream Wedding” and featured two male paper doll bodies wearing tuxedos and holding hands, except that Harry had remove the heads and replaced one of them with a cut out picture of himself. Harry had written down a list of possible venues ranging from the Golden Gardens Boat House on the beach to flying to Iceland to be married at some hot springs. There were sample menus, notes on color schemes, sketches of various bridesmaid dresses, and tons of other details. The one that caught Louis’s eye was a note that said in Harry’s slanted cursive “ _will walk down the aisle towards my husband to be to Van Morrison’s Purple Heather”_.

Louis smiled when a memory sparked in his head, the melody of “Purple Heather” tickling his brain as he remembered hearing it as it flowed out of Harry’s speakers as Louis approached his apartment to pick him up for their second date. He brought up Spotify and searched the app for the song, clicking on it when it came up. As the piano’s melody filled the stuffy room Louis hummed along softly, and then a stunning string section came in. Louis could hear violins, a cello and yes, his beloved viola playing the prominent part of the melody. Louis felt tears falling down his cheeks. This song; how happy Harry had been when he’d opened the door that night 13 years ago; how amazing their evening had been and how their date had ended with them going to Alki beach to sit on a bench facing the Seattle downtown skyline all lit up and kiss for hours. That night Harry had said in a whisper, “I could fall in love with you” and Louis had thought “I already am” before surging in to kiss Harry again.

Louis sat back in the present day attic of the house that Harry had grown up in that they now shared with their children. He and Harry had built a life together and it was pretty awesome. Why had he been so reluctant all these years to make their partnership official? Harry had taken the time and the love to make this page of dreams for something that he almost had with Louis. Louis had just been too stubborn and too proud to let Harry experience the joy that he deserved. Louis wiped his tears on the sleeves of his shirt and picked up the scrapbook to take with him, the ornaments long forgotten. Louis had a plan!

************************************************************

When Harry got off the plane in the North terminal of Sea-Tac airport he was bone tired. He had been sound asleep when the plane had hit the tarmac and rolled into the gate, surprised that the sun was still out since he had left New York at almost seven at night. He dragged his carryon suitcase behind him as he trudged his way to the shuttle train that would take him the one stop to the main terminal where he’d be exiting near the parking structure heading down a floor to where the ride share cars picked up people. He had spoken to Louis that morning and had told him that it would be easier for him to just catch an Uber home, which he reserved on his app. Harry blindly walked on stepping around his fellow passengers that were being greeted by their loved ones. It reminded Harry a little of “Love Actually” and he felt a little catch in his throat like he might cry, suddenly regretting not having Louis pick him up. God, he’d missed him and the kids. Harry was lost in his head with longing and almost missed the lovely sound of a viola playing the opening notes to his favorite Van Morrison song. Harry stopped abruptly like he’d run into a wall. He’d know that lovely, rich sound anywhere. That was his beloved Louis playing his Gagliano. Harry turned around in a circle, confused as to where the sound was coming from and then he saw him; saw them; his family. Louis was wearing one of his performance tuxedos and standing just at the entrance to the walkway that led to the parking garage. He was playing his viola and had the case open at his feet. Flanked on either side of him were their children, also dressed up in their finest clothes; Toby in the blue suit that they’d bought him last Easter and Olivia in her favorite purple taffeta dress. All three were smiling at Harry and Toby gave his dad a wave in greeting. And all the while Louis was playing Purple Heather so perfectly that Harry felt tears pricking his eyes. It was then that Olivia whipped a white poster board sign from behind her that was almost as big as Toby. The sign said in big block letters –

**DADDY WILL YOU MARRY PAPA??!?**

Harry’s hands flew up to his heart and he yelped and before he even knew what his body was doing he was running to his family. He clumsily slid on his knees into them and pulled Olivia and Toby in for hugs, peppering their faces with kisses as both children giggled with glee. Harry stared up at Louis as he played the final notes of the song and looked down with his own tear stained face and mouthed “I love you”. Harry beamed at Louis, and Louis was once again reminded how he had made himself a promise all those years ago in the hallway of Cornish College that he would do everything in his power to make Harry smile like that all the time. He wasn’t going to break that promise again.

“Daddy, you didn’t answer our question.” Olivia poked her father in his right dimple just like she’d seen her Papa do hundreds of times before.

“Oh I didn’t?” Harry was still looking at Louis with love in his eyes.

“No you didn’t Daddy.”

“Yeah Daddy, Papa wants you to make us a real family and then go to Porchoo…something.” Toby wrapped his arms tighter around Harry’s neck.

“Portugal?” Harry questioned, surprise and delight lighting up his face.

“Yep. We can do a family vacation slash honeymoon or have the wedding there or whatever you want Harry. I just want to marry you. Will you?”

“Of course I will, you goober!” Harry got to his feet, careful to hold Toby up so that he could piggyback on him and pulled Louis in with his free arm and kissed him deeply. Olivia wrapped her arms as far around her family as she could and pressed her grinning face into Harry’s hip, exclaiming how happy she was. The four of them stood like that for a few moments soaking up the bliss, until a soft thudding clink sound got their attention. Toby pointed from his perch on his dad’s shoulders.

“Look Papa, 3 quarters!”

Louis and Harry looked down to see that a passerby had indeed thrown $0.75 into the viola case.

“Great. That’s just enough for some…a handful of grapes. Let’s go guys. It’s Christmas Eve! We’ve got to go home get in our pajamas and drink some hot cocoa and start planning this wedding!” Louis put his viola away after pocketing the quarters. They walked down the ramp as a happy family all holding hands – Toby, Harry, Louis and Olivia, knowing that this was going to be the best Christmas ever.


End file.
